Symbionisia

The Republic of Symbionisia, formerly known as the Democratic Republic of Symbionisia, is an island nation located in the northern Pacific Ocean. The island had a population of 69,000,000 people on 15 September 2016, and the government has been ruled by the Union of Socialist and Communist Parties since 2016.

History
Symbionisia is located in the northern Pacific Ocean, and the island was once known as "Paradiso" after Spain colonized it in 1544. The island's population, mostly Polynesians, would be converted to Catholicism and to European culture by the Spanish, and it remained under Spanish control until 1898, when the United States took over the island during the Spanish-American War. America left its own cultural imprints on the island, founding Fort Briggs (now known as "American City") in the southeast of the island. The fort would develop into a major city, as would Pacific City. America helped in developing the island as a colony, and the island would be given independence in 1933, although the USA would enjoy friendly relations with the island. 25 August is known as Symbionisian Independence Day, and the island's people always celebrated the holiday.

Since 1933, Symbionisia has had a history similar to that of other post-colonial nations. The nation has been a battleground between liberalism and conservatism and between capitalism and democratic socialism, and the year 2016 would see several reforms. The Union of Socialist and Communist Parties electoral alliance took power after uniting all of the leftist parties in the country, and the USCP easily won the presidential election. The party was dominated by former Symbionisian Social Democratic Party leaders, who encouraged economic growth while also championing workers' rights and social democracy. Most companies in Symbionisia were nationalized to become state-run, and the government invested in several projects, including building racetracks, limiting auto traffic in large cities, encouraging prisoners and college students to help in killing invasive weeds, extending the right to vote to factory workers, legalizing six-month maternity leave for pregnant mothers, growing artificial replacement organs, banning fur apparel to save the environment, slowing down the expansion of mining companies into the wild, forcing foreigners with shady pasts to leave the country (including expelling war criminals), giving people limited times for speeches to prevent filibusters from wasting time, and bringing businesses back to Symbionisia.

Symbionisia's economy is a good example of state capitalism, as the economy is heavily regulated by the state. The state has been known for its harsh treatment of big businesses, placing high taxes on "too big to fail" businesses in order to help out the less-fortunate people of society, and it has had a weak economy as a result of its bullying of businesses. However, the people enjoy equal rights, and the nation has made moves towards achieving state capitalism, moderating the excesses of capitalism.

Culture
The Republic of Symbionisia is known as a large, genial nation, notable for its compulsory military service, public floggings, and punitive income tax rates. The compassionate population of 69 million Symbionisians are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt. The enormous, socially-minded government juggles the competing demands of Defense, Law & Order, and Healthcare. The average income tax rate is 74.8%, and even higher for the wealthy.

The sizeable but sluggish Symbionisian economy, worth 1.80 trillion dollars a year, is quite specialized and led by the Information Technology industry, with significant contributions from Door-to-door Insurance Sales, Basket Weaving, and Cheese Exports. State-owned companies are common. Average income is 26,060 dollars, and distributed extremely evenly, with practically no difference between the richest and poorest citizens.

In 2016, the country's ruling parties passed new laws that allowed for students to dress however they wanted to school (abolishing school uniforms), replacing oil platforms with wind farms, made military service compulsory, tagged suspicious people with chips, legalized gay marriage and service in the military, legalized abortion, and fought for several other social justice causes. Crime, especially youth-related, is totally unknown, thanks to the all-pervasive police force and progressive social policies in education and welfare. Symbionisia's national animal is the black cat.